1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnet head assembly for a flexible disk drive and, more particularly, to a composite magnetic head having a write/read head and an erase head.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today, a flexible disk drive is extensively used as a storage for various kinds of electronic equipment including computers and word processors. A composite magnetic head assembly for use in the flexible disk drive is taught in, for example, Japanese Patent laid-Open Publication No. 62-287406. The assembly taught in this document has a write/read (W/R) head and an erase head. The W/R head and erase head are each made up of an L-shaped core and an I-shaped core adhered to each other. However, the assembly has a W/R track width and erase track widths formed simply by chamfering one of the two cores of the erase head. Hence, magnetic fluxes from the erase gaps extend to the outside of the erase track widths and thereby erase data over more than a predetermined width, i.e., erase much data written in a magnetic recording medium or disk by the W/R head. As a result, the reproduction output, i.e, S/N (Signal-to-Noise) ratio of the assembly is lowered. Moreover, such magnetic fluxes are apt to erase even data stored in adjoining tracks. This makes compatibility of disks impractical.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic head assembly for a flexible disk drive and capable of preventing the erasure width from increasing and thereby ensuring compatibility of magnetic recording media or disks.
A magnetic head assembly of the present invention has a W/R head made up of a pair of first cores adhered to each other and having a coil opening. The W/R head has a first groove defining a W/R width and an erase head made up of a pair of second cores adhered to each other and having a coil opening. Only one of the second cores has second grooves defining a W/R track width and two erase track widths. The W/R head and erase head are constructed integrally with each other.